Chronic Stress

Description

Chronic stress is the long-term and repeating stress that we feel in
particular circumstances and contexts. It is a response to emotional pressure
that can come from within or from outside the person.

It is like a low-level ache that steadily wears the person out, draining them
of energy and motivation. Much chronic stress comes from the general pressures
of living.

Example

A person gets up each day and dreads going to work.

A parent feels life is an endless stream of work, cooking,
tidying and trying to get the children through life reasonably well.

A manager feels their staff do not like them. They try being
nice and are met only with cynicism. When they have to apply discipline, they
feel resented. Coupled with pressure to deliver from above, they live each day
at a time and try not to think about the continued stress of tomorrow.

Discussion

Chronic stress is caused through the endocrine system where corticosteroids
are released. This activates the sympathetic nervous system which releases
epinephrine and
norepinephrine. This
response is intended to provide energy to respond to threats, but left in the
body leads to problems such as high blood pressure, muscle damage and
suppression of the immune system (so it becomes easier to become ill). It even
changes the brain, affecting memory, decision-making and aggression.

So what?

Avoiding chronic stress can be helped by either getting out of the situations
where there is stress, such as changing one's job, or finding ways to not be
stressed so much by the pressures of life.

In persuading one another, we often use chronic stress, for example when we
nag or command on a regular basis. This wears people down so they give in more
easily. It is a relatively clumsy and harmful approach. The more subtle methods
used in this website can be more effective at persuading while also being less
harmful to the other person.